Essay About Truman's Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

President Harry Truman,  33rd president of the United States, had to face one of the most effective decisions of mankind; whether sacrificing a million of his men and thousands of war ships and planes, versus several thousand Japanese civilian populists. The atomic bombs (Fat Man and Little Boy) first served as an idea which was created underneath the United States government, and was tested in the sands of New Mexico, where it proved to be very successful.  With a nuclear weapon like the atomic bombs, came great responsibility. The idea of how to use and regulate the bomb was not yet implemented at that time. Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb changed the way Americans thought about war because of its traumatic after effects. This essay, will evaluate President Truman’s justification in dropping the atomic bombs, and conclude with my opinion as to whether Truman was justified or not.

Firstly, Truman was justified in his use of the atomic bomb as it brought the war to an end quickly and saved what was though to be millions of American lives. Henry L. Stimson was a secretary of war under both Presidents Roosevelt and Truman.  He believed that as long as the Japanese government refused to surrender then the U.S. should be obligated to use whatever means necessary to win the war (“The Atomic Bomb”).  The atomic bomb allowed the U.S. to put an end to a never-ending war with fewer casualties than if the war went to a ground fight. Winston Churchill estimated that an invasion of the Japanese mainland would result in the USA and Britain losing 1 million and 500,000 soldiers respectively, so Truman did not want to take the risk, hence he dropped the bombs on Japan. By avoiding this land invasion by using the atomic bomb instead, Truman saved a huge number of American lives. As American President, his first priority was to his own people and it is, therefore, understandable that he placed American soldiers first and decided to use the atomic bomb. As a result, Truman was justified in using the atomic bomb as it enabled him to fulfil a President’s priority of saving American lives.

Secondly, Truman was justified in his use of the atomic bomb as it was revenge for all the lives lost in Pearl Harbour. The dropping of the atomic bomb could also justify the money spent on the Manhattan Project (Donohue 1). With a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt “This will be a day that will live in infamy”, Pearl Harbor was a tragic day for Americans. The United States had lost many soldiers, which they had claimed that they would eventually get revenge, and they did by dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If the United States did not drop the bomb and ‘Operation Downfall’ had happened, then hundreds if not thousands of more lives would have been in danger, so Truman really did not have any choice. Japan had started this war, so of course Truman would want revenge for all the American lives gone. By getting revenge on the Japanese, Truman did not just save thousands of American lives, but also proved to the world that they should not mess with America. Therefore, Truman was justified in dropping the atomic bombs, as it was to fulfil a presidents priority to get revenge on the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour.

Nevertheless, Truman was unjustified in his use of the atomic bomb as it was immoral and it killed anywhere between 185,000 to 600,000 Japanese civilians. The atomic bombs had killed almost 300 times more than Pearl Harbour did, and the Pearl Harbour attack was on the military bases, while the atomic bombs were dropped on civilians. Most people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima did not survive the atomic bombs, and even the few that survived had radiation sickness or starvation. This was an inhumane decision from President Truman. Some blamed themselves for various reasons—like a woman who convinced her parents to move to Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped, or those who were the only survivor of a family, or of an entire school. Others, unable to cope with trauma left untreated, committed suicide.  Radiation continued to haunt the survivors, bringing a lifetime of sickness, not the least of which was an increase in the rates of various cancers. By having the bomb, be dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, was the wrong decision from President Truman, because it killed civilians, not military. As a result, Truman was unjustified in dropping the bombs (Fat Man and Little Boy), because it killed the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary civilians, that have nothing to do with this war.

On the other hand, Truman should not have dropped the bombs on Japan, because there we many other alternatives that he could have taken but didn’t. Truman did not have to blast the bombs on Japan without letting them know he could have done many things such as; a demonstration bomb, waited for the Russians to come, continue conventional bombing, or even wait for the response of the Japanese, to see if they would surrender. Another reason why Truman was unjustified is that at that time it was illegal to use a bomb in that way. On September 39, 1938, the League of Nations, had made this rule. The League warned, “Any attack on legitimate military objectives must be carried out in such a way that civilian populations in the neighborhood are not bombed through negligence.” Truman did something illegal at that time, but was not punished, just because he was the President of the United States of America. The bomb, was only made for defence purposes, so Truman did not have to use it now, because they were still winning. Therefore, Truman was unjustified in dropping the bombs because he could have done many other things, instead of dropping the bombs, and he did not have to drop it on civilians.

In my opinion, President Truman partially made the correct decision when it came to dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. Although I believe it was the correct decision at the time, I do not think it was morally correct, I am not justifying the deaths of thousands of Japanese citizens. However, looking at the facts and the current situation at the time, I believe that President Truman made the appropriate decision for the dispute at hand with Japan. In addition, this was not a decision that was made in a matter of seconds, President Truman and his advisors thought about what would be the best solution. Although it killed many Japanese citizens, it saved thousands of other people as well. He was defending his country and his people. He gave the people what they had so desperately wanted, and that was revenge on Japan. I agree with his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan; however I felt he could have dropped it in a different place. Explaining this further, the whole reason for using the atomic bomb was to end the war and for Japan to surrender. I feel that by dropping the atomic bomb on the Japanese military bases would have been just as effective, it would have devastated the Japanese military. In the end, I truly believe the President Truman made the right call when it came to the atomic bomb. Because, before dropping the bomb on Japan, President Truman warned the Japanese of his plans, and asked them if they would like to surrender, and then there was no reply from the Japanese.